Bible Strands
Jeremiah 25:23
Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who cut the corners of their hair;
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jeremiah pronounces a prophetic oracle against a catalog of foreign nations and their rulers. The speech targets rulers and peoples from the Mediterranean coastlands, the Arabian desert, and neighboring territories.
The words — Dedan (דְּדָ֤ן) and Tema (תֵּימָא) = proper names identifying specific tribal confederations. kol- (כָּל־) = all, marking the inclusive scope of the listed groups.
The thread — The text appears in a judgment list between references to Tyre, Sidon, and Arabian kings (Jeremiah 25:22, 24). It echoes Jeremiah 9:26 regarding desert dwellers who clip their hair, and connects to Jeremiah 49:8 and 49:32 where Dedan faces disaster and its livestock is scattered.
Why it lands — The verse demands recognition that the stated groups are explicitly named as subjects of the coming judgment. It requires the reader to accept the text’s plain cataloging of these peoples as targets of divine action before drawing any further application.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that are in the utmost corners,
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 9:26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and all the inhabitants of the desert who clip the hair of their temples. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”
- Jeremiah 49:8 Turn and run! Lie low, O dwellers of Dedan, for I will bring disaster on Esau at the time I punish him.
- Jeremiah 49:32 Their camels will become plunder, and their large herds will be spoil. I will scatter to the wind in every direction those who shave their temples; I will bring calamity on them from all sides,” declares the LORD.
- Genesis 22:21 Uz the firstborn, his brother Buz, Kemuel (the father of Aram),
- Job 6:19 The caravans of Tema look for water; the travelers of Sheba hope to find it.
- Genesis 10:7 The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. And the sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.
- Genesis 25:15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.
- 1 Chronicles 1:30 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema,
- Isaiah 21:13 This is the burden against Arabia: In the thickets of Arabia you must lodge, O caravans of Dedanites.
- Ezekiel 25:13 therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I will stretch out My hand against Edom and cut off from it both man and beast. I will make it a wasteland, and from Teman to Dedan they will fall by the sword.